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Volume CXXXIII, Number 9 |
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Four years of sweat and tears
BOBBY DESAULNIERS
STAFF WRITER
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| Football players practice a couple of offensive and defensive plays earlier in the season. Bowdoin will graduate 11 senior football players this spring. (Hans Law, Bowdoin Orient) |
We walked away
By Bobby Desaulniers
One August afternoon in 2000, we all took the field. We did not know each other's names; we did not know each other's stories. We were on the field for one reason that day: to play college football for Bowdoin.
Throughout the years, throughout the ups and downs of our team, we still took the field every day in search of that fleeting dream. The dream that, in 25 years, we could all look back and say, "We shared in the best of times."
Experiences that are as special as ours are beyond description. To describe the feeling that I get when Jeff Pike gets a sack or when Mark Drauschke makes a big catch over the middle is to strip it of its power. There is a power that has been cultivated through blood and sweat on the practice field behind Farley. No one can know of this. No one can share this, but us.
Although our playing days are coming to an end, the memories of playing the game will last forever. How about the first day of practice freshman year when Jim Weeks was curled up in the fetal position during our conditioning test? How about when Dustin Brown made that sliding touchdown catch in the Middlebury scrimmage junior year? How about this year's game against Wesleyan when their tight end tried to fake out Jeb and Jeb ran up and nearly ripped his head clean off? Who could forget when Gil Barndollar dropped his patented "Gil-otine" on two unfortunate souls?
Occurrences like these exist in the realm of the mundane for everyone who did not experience them directly. For us, these memories are colored as brightly as the pieces of the past that will never escape us.
The dirt of our practice field will be forever soaked with our blood and sweat. Our legacy will be held in these grains of sand. The underclassmen look at us and see men who refuse to lie down. Although we won limited games in our four years here, quitting never entered our mind. Even after a tough loss, we would come out to the field on Monday afternoon and know what we had to be done. We had to work out our kinks because we solemnly believed that every game was winnable. We transformed everyone who doubted into a believer. They could see it in our eyes.
Our work ethic and our perseverance paved the way for the underclassmen. You can see this mentality in those younger guys right away when team leaders like us run the show. Each one of us inspired certain qualities that make our effect on the team unique.
Drew Loucks showed his versatility and relentlessly-positive attitude as he was shifted to and from the offensive side of the ball. Mike Costello taught us the importance of being meticulous in everything you do. Chris Wagner taught us to pour our heart and soul into every play, like it was your last. Brandon Casten repeatedly fought through busted ankles and knees to give his all on Saturday afternoons. These qualities show in the younger guys on the team and will live on.
Next year, we will not have the opportunity to play football. Never again will I line up and look to see that I am blocking for Jeb. Never again, in the calm before the hellacious hit, will we look at each other and laugh. Never again will Pikey show us sack dances that he will do after he lays out the opposing quarterback. Never again will I feel closer to a group of guys.
Yes, I agree that it is disappointing to see the conclusion of our time as players. However, thinking back upon the four years that I played football here, I would not change a thing about my experience. I would not trade anyone on our team for anyone else I have played with in the past. I would not trade the tears we exchanged after a disappointing loss for false jubilation. I would not trade us for them, wins and all.
Now that our lives are approaching the great transition into the "real world," all of us seniors feel a bit apprehensive. These four years with these guys will suddenly be traded in for 40-hours a week, no time and a half. Somehow, this does not seem right; it seems unfair that we should all have to go through this. The fact is, I reserve some excitement for the future. I cannot wait to come back to see all the guys over the next few years. I look forward to meeting up in 20 years and talking about the old times.
The record books may not be blown open by our record over the last four years. The flashing moments of beauty that I found on the field will hold our story. The memories that last a lifetime will do just that.
A wise man once spoke of an ideology called "Cold Steel." No matter what happens, cold steel keeps its original form. Nothing can break cold steel; not the winds of defeat or the bitter seasons of loss. Lessons of perseverance learned over the last four years will stay with us to the grave. Bowdoin Football is the embodiment of Cold Steel.
On November 8, 2003, we walked off of the field, but our legacy seemed to stay.
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